Worcester police probe rash of robberies

WORCESTER 
Police continue to investigate a group of robberies over the past few days, two involving guns.

The most recent robbery occurred about 10 p.m. Saturday on West Boylston Street. Two men entered the Sunoco gas station at 814 West Boylston St., and one of them showed the clerk a revolver.

The two men stole cash from the register and ran off.

They are described as Hispanics, both in their 20s and both about 6 feet tall. One man wore a gray hooded sweatshirt and the other a black hooded sweatshirt. Both were wearing blue jeans.

A second robbery that occurred Saturday morning remains under investigation as well. Police were called to the Bay State Savings Bank at 275 Mill St. for a report of an armed robbery there. The call came in about 9 a.m.

A teller told investigators that a man entered the bank and handed over a note demanding cash. The man took an undisclosed amount of cash and ran off toward June and Mill streets.

The suspect was described as a white man, about 5 feet 6 inches tall and wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt.

Detectives continue to investigate a robbery Thursday at the Guria Brazil Boutique, 458 Park Ave., where a man entered the store, brandished a gun and stole money from the cash register.

Police have security footage and are trying to identify the suspect.

Any robbery in which someone shows a gun or threatens to have a gun is a concern for police. In many cases surveillance footage has helped detectives track down a suspect, Police Chief Gary J. Gemme said.

The chief said he understands that in any type of robbery there is a victim, and the personal nature of the crime puts someone in fear.

Many armed robberies occur at night or early in the morning and around bars or nightclubs where victims are walking alone, the chief said.

Even with these recent reports, police said, armed robberies are down 2.4 percent for the first 10 months of this year compared with the same time frame last year.

There have been 4.1 percent fewer incidents of crime reported, and the number of arrests has dropped by 2.8 percent, according to statistics provided by the Police Department.